Fred DeVictor, left, and Don Sheriff, both with Lawrence Breakfast Optimists Club, set up the club's Christmas tree stand in the parking lot of Hy-Vee on Sixth Street. All proceeds from the tree sales go to youth programs.

There’s much debate about what constitutes the perfect Christmas tree: the smell, the shape and, for those of us with the wallets, the price tag.

But when it is time to tie that beauty onto the top of the station wagon, a la Chevy Chase, there should be no debate about one point: The point goes to the back. The trunk goes to the front. Do it the other way around and the speed of a fast moving car and the laws of aerodynamics will bring new meaning to the old classic “O Christmas Tree.”

“We looked out the moon roof, and the tree was standing straight up on the roof of the car,” Lawrence resident Jill Fincher recalls of one adventure from a Christmas Past.

Now that we have that figured out, (apologies again to the motorist who was following us, although we really do think that Scotch Pine makes the grill of your car more festive) what else do we need to know?

Asking the folks at the Christmas tree lot in front of the Hy-Vee at Sixth and Monterey Way may be a good place to start. It is run by the Lawrence Breakfast Optimist Club, and buying a tree from the nonprofit group that uses the proceeds to fund children’s program has become a tradition for some. For others, it is just a good place to buy a good tree. And that brings us back to our debate: What constitutes a good Christmas tree?

Well, that’s easy to figure out, says Ezekial Sheridan, a Lawrence middle school student, who was at the lot recently. It has to be a real tree.

“They’re less plasticky,” he says.

It is hard to argue with that. Others tout the smell of a real tree, how they shimmer in the light and other such points that you’ll learn if you spend an hour or so hanging out with people who sell Christmas trees. Which isn’t as easy of a job as it used to be.

Kathy Summers, the organizer of the Breakfast Optimist Club’s tree program, says sales of live Christmas trees have been on the decline. The club once operated three lots. It now is down to one. (The Lawrence Luncheon Optimist Club operates a tree lot at the Checkers grocery store at 23rd and Louisiana.)

But Summers is predicting good sales this year. That shouldn’t be much of a surprise. She’s an optimist. The name of this organization really does explain what the club is all about. Although I can attest it does serve good breakfast — both sausage and bacon on the same buffet — I’m talking more about the optimist part.

The group has an actual “optimist creed” that it reads at every meeting. It includes such nuggets as: Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind; be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own; and give every living creature you meet a smile.

“We promote it, we live it, and hopefully we share it so other people become optimists,” Summers said.

The club is involved in projects throughout the community. The club donates about $25,000 a year to youth activities, including the club’s program to provide a dictionary to every fourth-grade student in the city, academic scholarships, food programs for children in need and a host of others.

But while the money goes to youth programs, the approximately 85 members of the club hope their message hits home with all ages.

“It is so important to have optimism these days,” Summers said. “There is nothing more depressing than the news.”

Summers apologizes a bit when she remembers that she is talking to a newsman. I tell her there is no need. With the constant noise of a police scanner, with the frequent squabbles of politics, with everything else that makes a newsroom a newsroom, I long ago realized that my cup didn’t runneth over with optimism. If all it took to be an optimist was eating both bacon and sausage for breakfast, I would be the president of this club. But from where I sit, being an optimist isn’t that easy.

I’m betting, however, that the feeling isn’t unique to my industry, nor our times. It always has been easy to get beaten down in this world and assume that trouble is around every corner.

And then, one day, you turn a corner, and find a Christmas tree lot full of optimists.

It is a good place to get a tree but an even better place to get an important reminder.

“Optimism is one of the few things you can control,” says Deborah Kurtz, another club member and tree lot worker. “It is not always easy, but it is something you can choose to do.”

And the way these tree peddlers see it, the holiday season is a perfect time to give it a try.

“You’ve got a leg up,” Summers said. “You’ve already got a feel-good feeling going on. Just keep it going.”

It sounds like a plan. I can already feel the change. I’m optimistic that this year the Christmas tree really will stay tied to the car.

Well, cautiously optimistic.